![]() It's a spectacularly on-the-nose montage that accomplishes nothing. For example, as Bundy discusses his relationship with Elizabeth Kloepfer, a montage of contemporaneous footage depicts exactly what he's talking about (when me mentions eating dinner, there's a shot of a family sitting around the dinner table when he mentions being nervous, we see someone biting their nails). ![]() There are also some very strange aesthetic choices. Pretty much everything else is standard bio material, nothing that anyone familiar with the case won't already know. Part of the reason for this is the dearth of actual audio material, as from the 100 hours available, Berlinger uses about 20 minutes all told. Instead of giving us a vivid illustration of who they were by interviewing family and friends, Berlinger gives us a rough pencil sketch made up of contemporary news reports.Īside from the side-lining of victims, the most obvious issue with Conversations is that it's a far more conventional piece than a deep dive into previously untapped reservoirs of Bundy's psyche. ![]() Some, like his youngest victim, 12-year-old Kimberly Leach, are focuses upon, but others are lumped together, and Berlinger makes no real effort to characterise them. With this in mind, the victims receive relatively little attention. However, the question is raised of when does documenting a violent narcissist transition into giving them a platform? To be fair, the show doesn't glorify him Berlinger ensures the audience knows he was a monster. The problem, however, is that the show falls into the same trap Bundy's wit and charm appears to win Berlinger over, as he seems to be just as fascinated with Bundy's antics as the media and public were. As a well-educated, well-dressed, humorous, respectable middle-class white man, obviously intelligent, and seemingly charming, he was able to hide in plain sight, because no one could conceive of a man like him being a sadistic murderer. This is not necessarily a criticism, as the biographical material, whilst never original, is interesting and well put together his involvement with the Vietnam Anti-war Movement, his work for a Suicide Hotline, his work as Assistant Director of the Seattle Crime Prevention Advisory Commission (where he wrote a pamphlet for women on rape prevention).Īn equally fascinating aspect of the series, but one which is under-explored, is how Bundy's white privilege factored into his murders. However, Conversations is more of a conventional documentary than you might expect. Not recognising that Michaud was exploiting his narcissism, Bundy immediately began to talk about the murderer in the third person. One of the most important aspects of the series, is that Bundy would not discuss the murders, and so, to trick him into talking about them, Michaud asked him to act as a kind of consultant and to speculate as to the killer's motives. Michaud, the transcripts of which have been available online for years, but which have never actually been heard before. Written and directed by Joe Berlinger, one gets the distinct impression that Bundy himself would have been immensely happy with it.Ĭonversations is derived from over 100 hours of audio recordings of Bundy being interviewed by Stephen G. And although Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes certainly has merit, and is well-made, it's also guilty of focusing on the killer whilst giving little time over to the victims. ![]() He also embodies media and cultural fixation with killers, almost always at the expense of their victims. Most significantly he was the first celebrity serial killer, and remains the best-known example (Charles Manson wasn't a serial killer). In many ways, Ted Bundy is the archetypal serial killer, embodying many of the characteristics we associate with such criminals. More of a conventional documentary than advertised, but it provides a good overview ![]()
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